The carelessness of online users, along with the proliferation of malware, pushed cybercrime rates up 152 percent in the National Capital Region (NCR) during the first six months of 2023, according to latest statistics from the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC).
Worse still, they project that the exponential growth of cybercrime will continue due to the availability of malware on the internet, ease of doing business of both private and government institutions, as well as technological development and careless online users.
Already, the total number of cybercrimes reported to the Philippine National Police from January to June 30 reached 6,250 up from 2,477 recorded during the same period last year.
Online scam during the same period almost tripled to 4,446 compared to 1,551 last year while illegal access reached 1,063, up 86 percent from 570 during the same period last year.
ATM and credit card fraud also rose during the first semester to 625 which is more than double the 241 cases reported during the same period last year.
So far, the CICC’s Inter-Agency Response Center (IARC) has received 4,615 complaints from January 1 to June 15 this year, according to CICC Division Chief Engineer Norman Ancheta (Cybercrime Monitoring and Public Complaints Coordination).
The IARC was established on December 27, 2022 following the implementation of the SIM registration law.
“Despite the ongoing implementation of the SIM Registration Act, cybercrime and cyber security related concerns of the public are on the uptrend,” Engineer Ancheta noted.
IARC receives complaints through social media, website and telephone hotline 1326.
The center received a total of 3,609 complaints related to SIM registration and 904 cyber complaints from January 1 to June 15.
Most of the cyber complaints are related to online fraud (364), illegal access (192) and online libel (103).
“We need a single portal to allow government to have a firm grasp of reality in fighting cybercrimes ” CICC Executive Director Alexander K. Ramos underscored.